Standing value of first and second thinnings

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, shavey said:

 

Just out of interest back then what was your difference in price between fencing and pulp , ours was £4.50  

My memory isn't that good  but it was significant, rails were worth a premium over 8ft tree stakes then 5'6" stakes, these we were paid by the piece.

 

That was first thinnings or respacing regen and there was a blip in the price-size curve then which meant second thinnings were worth less as  they were too big for PSR and too small for getting many small bars from them, so much tended to go for newsprint pulp. When subbing I got caught out by the harvesting company because the assortment meant the price overall was bad. I think we got £6/tonne cut and extract for 1 metre pulp and about £8 for bars down to 5" under bark. At the time I both subbed for a harvesting company and bought standing. I seldom produced pulp on my own timber when producing PSR as I'd prefer to waste small bends in order to maximise the various post stake and rails. As I said earlier the harvesting company, who also owned the stake plant at the time,"cooked" the figures so it appeared to the land owner that all produce including pulp showed a return when in fact the harvesting and haulage of pulp probably exceeded the delivered price, so they paid themselves less for the PSR to subsidise losses on pulp. Consider also at that time as well as treating all the stumps with urea we had to remove all produce over 2" and cut tops to less than 6ft so they would dry out before becoming hosts to the various pine beetles.

 

As I said I look back on the period as being enjoyable but financially disastrous. I do pass a plantation by aspen Bob's yard where we did the first thinning and it has just been machine harvested, its a good looking pine plantation now.

 

This would have been the period 1978-83

Edited June 25, 2018 by openspaceman
added date

[Ciaran Taylor]

Depending on prices but for chip only job up to 500ton I have to offer 5-10/ton to compete. Any site above 500ton and I don't even get asked. Cut and extract is down below 15/ton on those jobs.

[Andy2873]

How long is a piece of string? Price depends on ease of site, size of trees, hard or softwood, any sawlogs, estimated production.